Johnson vs Oliver
At the risk of duplicating Iain's post on this topic, I'm going to do it anyway.
First off, declarations of interest:
I find Boris Johnson's writing witty and warm to his public persona. Basically I'm a fan.
Jamie Oliver annoys me more than just about anyone outside the wrong benches in Westminster politics, and his appearance on television bring me out in a rage, followed immediately by a channel hop.
So, I'm saddened that BJ has recanted / denied the comments he made in support of the northern chip shop mothers and joined in the collective swooning over the irritating mockney twerp who has the audacity to hail from the fair county of Essex. At the time of the chip shop story, I reckoned that reactions to it would be a near infallible class indicator - anyone who thought it was a good idea was probably from the lower end of the working class, anyone appalled by it was probably upper working, or lower/middle middle class and the upper middles and the upper class doubtless thought it was hugely amusing.
While undermining an attempt by a school to furnish non-heart attack on a plate meals is not an objectively good idea, the issues involved go a whole lot deeper, and to my mind go to the heart of my ideology that freedom is nothing unless it involves the ability to make poor choices and deal with the consequences. No responsible parent has ever been in any serious doubt that most school dinners are industrial muck, and having done media research work on the obesity panic that kicked off a couple of years back, there was even then a huge amount of press coverage - in the tabloids as well as the broadsheets - pointing the finger at school dinners as a major factor in childhood obesity. Our feathercutted friend with a yen for self publicity did an outstanding job of hopping onto that particular bandwagon, doubtless aware that the 15 minutes of fame that TV chefs experience was about to run out, and that his adverts for Sainsburys made the average young to middle aged man want to investigate his face with a cricket bat.
Had it been the Divine Nigella spearheading this war on junk food, my response might be a little more nuanced.
First off, declarations of interest:
I find Boris Johnson's writing witty and warm to his public persona. Basically I'm a fan.
Jamie Oliver annoys me more than just about anyone outside the wrong benches in Westminster politics, and his appearance on television bring me out in a rage, followed immediately by a channel hop.
So, I'm saddened that BJ has recanted / denied the comments he made in support of the northern chip shop mothers and joined in the collective swooning over the irritating mockney twerp who has the audacity to hail from the fair county of Essex. At the time of the chip shop story, I reckoned that reactions to it would be a near infallible class indicator - anyone who thought it was a good idea was probably from the lower end of the working class, anyone appalled by it was probably upper working, or lower/middle middle class and the upper middles and the upper class doubtless thought it was hugely amusing.
While undermining an attempt by a school to furnish non-heart attack on a plate meals is not an objectively good idea, the issues involved go a whole lot deeper, and to my mind go to the heart of my ideology that freedom is nothing unless it involves the ability to make poor choices and deal with the consequences. No responsible parent has ever been in any serious doubt that most school dinners are industrial muck, and having done media research work on the obesity panic that kicked off a couple of years back, there was even then a huge amount of press coverage - in the tabloids as well as the broadsheets - pointing the finger at school dinners as a major factor in childhood obesity. Our feathercutted friend with a yen for self publicity did an outstanding job of hopping onto that particular bandwagon, doubtless aware that the 15 minutes of fame that TV chefs experience was about to run out, and that his adverts for Sainsburys made the average young to middle aged man want to investigate his face with a cricket bat.
Had it been the Divine Nigella spearheading this war on junk food, my response might be a little more nuanced.
This entry was posted
on Wednesday, October 04, 2006 at 2:58 pm.
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dude, your not cool.
Oh dear. Maybe I'll stick my head in the fridge for a bit.
Jamie was smart to get in on ZaNu-Lab authoritarianism and control of the minutia of people's lives.
What is wrong with chips? Carbohydrates are filling and give you energy and in the winter, they warm you up - exactly what children need. Where did Jamie Oliver take his degree in nutrition? Doesn't he know? Chips are a vegetable - one of their beloved four food groups. (The four food groups going in my house are carbohydrates, fat, tuna and alcohol.)
Of the two Boris is less irritating and at least brings a spirit of light-heartedness to the table. Jamie Oliver brings a face one longs to wipe the smug look off.
A mate of mine went to the same catering college (and got higher marks...) so I'll ask him about nutrition courses.
Wrong anonymous. Croydonian is the epitome of cool.
Sometimes there's a comment that makes it all worthwhile. Thank you PHS.
Boris is a dad and his kids probably love tucking into pie and chips from time to time, it's hardly a crime. Only he's probably too afraid to admit it now. Will all eyes be on his supermarket trolley from now on?
Hooray for internet shopping, eh?
Reminds me of the research put out by one of the supermarkets a while back, there being a black hole in their sales compared to what people were saying they actually bought. Turns out that we chaps were loading up with pork pies and other bloke food and then eating it on the hoof before our other halves could find out....
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